Active Minds is a student-run mental health-focused chapter I am lucky enough to be a part of. One of our school counselors, Mrs. Tenreiro, kick-started this organization during the 2022-2023 school year.
In doing this, we became the first school in Rhode Island to have an Active Minds chapter.
KyleCares is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to the promotion of open, honest communication concerning mental health challenges in teens and young adults (KyleCares Official Site). The founders, Jim and Sue Johnson, lost their son Kyle Johnson from suicide on April 2nd, 2018. He was only nineteen years old. In his life, he worked to advocate for those with mental health issues and encouraged people to speak up. They created this organization in 2019 to help break the stigma and help Kyle’s legacy live on.
Active Minds is a similar organization that was founded in 2003 by Alison Malmon after she lost her brother, Bryan, to suicide. It is a non-profit that is dedicated to promoting mental health, especially in young adults (Active Minds Official Site). This organization has a presence in more than 1,000 schools, workplaces, communities, and campuses worldwide.
While separate organizations, KyleCares and Active Minds work together. KyleCares has provided grants to launch twenty-two Active Minds chapters in schools around New England (KyleCares Official Site). Mount is one of them (@mscactiveminds on Instagram)
From the beginning of our chapter, to where we are now, there has been significant progress. Originally, there were about fifteen to twenty students. Now - we have around forty. So far, we have had student-led meetings, mental health awareness-themed athletic games, tables outside the cafeteria, and field trips to different events. But we are just getting started.
A group of us, me included, traveled to Gillette Stadium over April break in 2023. We got to sit and listen to mental health speakers from an organization called Minding your Mind as well as meet with other schools who are working with KyleCares. Just last month in September, some of us traveled to Patriot Place to go to the Active Minds Send Silence Packing event. Backpacks were hung up in a hallway, attached to them were the stories of people who lost their lives to suicide.
I had the most amazing experience with my fellow Active Minds members. While we were there we saw Jim Johnson and Kyle even had a backpack hung up with his story. Going forward, I feel as though this experience will help me with many other things. It opened my eyes even more and gave me a new sense of purpose. It helped me to think and learn.
While we were walking through, there was music playing through these two big speakers…it was an interesting choice of genre. It was like pop song covers on the piano. I am not quite sure it fit well with the event but maybe they were trying to lighten the mood a little bit. Personally, I would not have chosen that kind of music.
After a couple of us had finished the exhibit we walked outside to see a table of people from the Active Minds organization and across from them was a big board that’s pictured above. Next to the board was a table with papers, clips, and markers. If we wanted to, we were able to write something to put on the board. Specifically, we had to write “What would you say to someone who is struggling?” There were so many cards already clipped on the board and it was a small but very touching gesture. Almost all of us took the time to read every single one.
Afterward, we played a couple of rounds of cornhole while we waited for everyone else to finish going through the exhibit. There was some fierce competition. Once everyone had finished up, we all walked over to Crumbl Cookies and got a box of twelve. It was a positive way to end such an amazing and emotional time. Then, of course, I blasted some awesome throwbacks on Maurice’s speaker on the bus back to school.
This experience was one of the most touching things I have ever had the chance to do. Hearing those people’s stories and the way it affected their friends and family hits hard. I felt a heaviness in my heart afterward but I knew the importance of hearing the stories. People's stories deserve to be heard. Your story deserves to be heard.
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